Various prepackaged and premoistened disposable cleansing articles are known in the art for cleansing surfaces such as the disposable toilet seat wiping pad of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,475,891 and 4,601,081, and the articles of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,117,187 and 4,781,974 which describe premoistened wipers that are usable on parts of the human body and include antimicrobial active solutions. However, no prepackaged, conveniently available, already premoistened for instant use, wiper or towelette is known which is effective to decontaminate inanimate surfaces against a broad spectrum of harmful microorganisms, for example, bacteria or germs, and, more specifically, a single use wiper pad for removing soap scum and hard water salts which can harbor bacteria, and, generally, to clean hard non porous susrfaces such as tables, counters, walls, floors, carts, and other food processing, preparation and servicing facilities, in hospitals, veteranary clinics, animal research facilities and in other indoor areas where anti-bacterial control measures are essential or highly desirable including means to guard against the more resistant viral contaminants such as the HIV-1 or AIDS virus and toxic microorganisms such as salmonella.
Accordingly, a need exists for a convenient, readily available, i.e., accessible, sterile prepackaged premoistened disposable towelette which is effective to disinfect or decontaminate surfaces which may have become contaminated by contact with a variety of microorganisms from infected persons, articles or materials, such as those contaminated with the HIV-1 virus.